The Most Famous Writer of the Low Countries: Herman Brusselmans Star Author and (Reluctant) Public Intellectual

Abstract

The Flemish writer Herman Brusselmans is the most famous author of the Low Countries. In this article, Herman Brusselmans is analysed as a star author. First and foremost, two striking aspects of Brusselmans’s stardom are analysed: his public visibility and the cult of the private. Attention is then focused on Brusselmans’s experience of celebrity, which he – like many other star authors – thematises in his books. Doing so, he consciously places himself in the context of popular culture. On the other hand, as a result of his celebrity status he has been expected – particularly in the last few years – to assume the role of public intellectual willy-nilly, and this in turn has had consequences for his work.